French services sector ekes out growth in August – PMI

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s dominant companies sector misplaced extra steam in August, and the outlook amongst buying managers seems bleak, a survey confirmed on Monday.

S&P International mentioned its ultimate month-to-month buying managers index for companies in August fell to 51.2 factors from 53.2 in July, barely up from an preliminary late-August estimate of 51.0 factors. Readings above 50.0 denote an enlargement in exercise.

“French service sector exercise seems to be transferring step by step in direction of stagnation territory, and forward-looking indicators counsel worse is to return,” mentioned S&P economist Andrew Harker in an announcement.

The composite PMI index, which incorporates the companies and manufacturing sectors, final month stood on the sting of stagnation at 50.4 factors, down from 51.7 in July.

New orders within the companies sector dropped beneath the 50-point mark for the primary time since early 2021, and enterprise expectations slumped to a 21-months low.

S&P mentioned the decline was above all as a consequence of weaker demand amid an more and more grim enterprise local weather.

“The newest figures for companies counsel that the general financial system is stagnating throughout the third quarter and on a weak footing as the ultimate months of the yr strategy”, mentioned Harker.

French Financial system Minister Bruno Le Maire mentioned final week the federal government’s full-year financial development projection of two.5% was “nonetheless achievable.”

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Enhancing by Hugh Lawson)